Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-12-31
A BURIED CITY.
UNC0VERING HAbITATIONS OF
PAST GENERATIONS.
A Prehistoric Town in Western Ari-
IONA Brought to Light of
Modern Inspection.

The Washington Post gives the follow
ing interesting account of the discovery of,
buried city in Arizona:
Frank II. Cushing, Of Zuni fame has
unearthed the ruins of a prehistoric city
in the Salt River valley, about eighty
miles northwest of Tucson. Professor
Gushing is at present in Southern Califor-
mia, lying extremely i'll, but the force he
put to work during the summer exhuming
the buried city is still encamped on the
spot, continuing their explorations.
The camp is located on the edge of the
unearthed city, and about three hundred
yards from what was its citadel or forti-
fed temple. This is supposed to have
been building of considerable size and
strength, probably several stories high,
and had its foundation laid deep in the
earth. The material used in its construc-
ton was sun-dried clay, the same as that
used by the Mexicans of the lower and
middle classes, and before Mr.. Cushing
began his explorations there was nothing
to mark its whereabouts except a sort of
| oblong hillock or mound Little of the
walls above the foundation were found in
tact, but the ground plan could be traced
in every detail. as we'll as the lines of the
outer wall. The rooms were of different
sizes, and seemed to have been constructed
with much architectural skill. A number
Of the smaller apartments had undoubtedly
been constructed for burial vaults, for when
they were opened up skeletons were found
in them, the heads being invariably to the
east. In one of these vaults was found the
skeleton of a child.
Mr.. Cushing was of the opinion that
the building had been Il sort of combined
citadel and sacred temple, and that the
remains found there were those of
priests and their families. The city ex-
tended out in all directions from the pal
ace or temple, and the foundations of nu-
merous dwellings had been exposed, many
of them consisting of but a single room
but now and then there is one of larger
and more ample proportions, and in most
OF these larger ones there has been found
buried vaults and skeletons. Two thous-
and of these have been exhumed already,
according to the letter in the Post,
but 1t Is thought by the officials
OF the geological survey that this is mis-
print for 200. A great deal OF pottery has
been taken out, of course. No iron, cop
per or metal instruments of any kind have
been found, but great quantities of stone
axes, stone postals and mortars, bone
needles and knives and other such ma
terlals as belong to the stone age. The
skill with which these articles were made
was far superior, however to that shown
by the Indians found in America by the
whites. These prehistoric jewellers OF
Southern Arizona were people of very
superior intelligence
Mr.. Cushing has found a good deal of
wheat and barley and other grain. all OF
it, of course, in charred, blackened con-
dition, and he has also traced several
canals and found the ruins of a large res
ervolr, so that he has no doubt that ex-
tensive irrigation had been carried on
and that all the valley had been under
cultivation. He thinks there must have
been population of at least $4,000 in the
ruined city, and that most of the inhabit.
ants lived by cultivating the soil of the
surrounding country.
MIR. Cushing was questioned as to his
theory about the complete disappearance
of the people who occupied the city.
think" said he, they.suffered from
some great calamity like the inhabitants
of Herculan@um and Pompeii 1t was
probably an earthquake. | have found
skeletons under the walls of houses lying
as if the walls had sudden fallen upon
the person and crushed him to death.
Yes, think there came a terrible earth
quake which killed many, and frightened
the remainder away. They were, no doubt,
religious people and strongly supersti-
tlous, so that they saw in the calamity
that befel them warning to seek
some other abode. They probably moved
south, and it may have been their de-
scendants that the Spaniards found in
Mexico. They were certainly equal in
intelligence and advancement to the AZ
| tees"